This Egg Washing Business

 This past summer I've had so much fun watching Rosetta go through her little routine of washing eggs.  It's one of those little moments I've wanted to capture and remember forever because it's so precious.  

 

 As part of the girls' daily chores... wait, scratch that... as part of the girls' daily chores when we aren't really busy and we actually stick to our daily chore list, the girls help take care of the chickens.  Jillian is old enough now to fill the water and feed troughs, and Rosetta gathers the eggs and washes them.  She has a routine she always follows of setting up a little assembly station, which consists of her egg basket, a bowl full of soapy water, and a towel that she organizes outside.

 

 

 With hands full of soapy water, I don't really think they consider this a "chore".  ;-)  But we take this egg washing business serious here! 

Ever inquisitive, the chickens always come over to see what we are up to. 

 

 I've actually been on the hunt for a cute egg basket for ages now.  We've been using an old basket I picked up somewhere for $1 in the meantime.  At Wal-Mart (who knew?) recently though, I found the perfect egg basket for under $5.  This wire basket was in the craft section and was originally brown, which wasn't a problem for me...  I just came home and spray painted it white.  I love it so much, I might go back and buy a few more because it's the perfect size to store so many things in the house.  :-)

 I've been hanging onto those last days of summer, but Fall has arrived and soon we'll be walking on crunchy leaves in the cool air.  Eating pumpkin muffins with warm drinks.  Soup for dinner, and maybe lunch too.  Taking advantage of the sun in the afternoon.  Searching for the perfect pumpkins and decorating the porch with mums.  Savoring new fall memories. 

 Happy Fall! 

Fresh Eggs

 All nine of our hens are laying now and we've been enjoying an abundance of fresh eggs every day.  I realize this may sound a little silly, but our chickens have become a part of our family... as much as we love and enjoy their eggs, we enjoy them too.

 All the different shades are so pretty.  For two months we had only blue eggs, so it was actually pretty exciting when we had our first brown eggs!  We've had enough for us every day, and we've also gotten to share a little with family, friends and neighbor. 

 As our hens have grown, it's been fun getting to know their different personalities.  They all run to us when we step outside and love foraging around in the grass and dirt during the day. 

 Growing up, it was my chore to help out in the care of our family chickens.  I loved them and would gather their eggs every day, wash and put them away... I even had a few egg buying customers (smile).  

Who would have known that years later I would have two little girls doing the same...

Backyard Bounty

 I know, I know, it probably looks like all I'm going to share is pictures of vegetables from our garden! Okay, I might share just one from my morning picking (although, sadly, our garden this year is nothing to brag about)...

 But what was particularly exciting that came from our backyard this week was our very first egg! 

Justus found it the other evening in a nesting box and even though we knew (hoped) our hens would be laying soon, we were still all a little awed by our perfect little egg!   It seems like just yesterday we picked up our chicks. 

 

I'm not exactly sure who was our first layer, but I do have it narrowed down to either Peony or Tulip, thanks to the color of the egg shell (smile)! 

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On a completely different note, I'm sorry it has taken me so long to post the winners of the Creatively Made Home {Home for the Holidays} course, but the randomly drawn winners are:

Margaret and Elizabeth

Congratulations, I'll be emailing you shortly!  Thank you all for entering!

If you are interested in registering for the course, there are two days left to register early and receive the discounted price before it goes to the regular price.  You can find more details here.

Have a great weekend! 

Cozy Coop Update: The Interior

 As hard as it is to believe, three months have passed and our chicks have grown by leaps and bounds.  Regardless, I still refer to them as the "chicks" and we still enjoy them just as much today as we did when they were so little. 

 Although not nearly as clean as it was a few months ago (smile), the coop has been a great home.  The hens spend the majority of their time outdoors, but they love their house too.

 They're big enough now to spend some time ranging free in the yard.  They love vegetable scraps and oatmeal... when they see me walking towards them, they come running because they know I usually have a treat for them. (I have to try to remember to give them scraps when Justus is at work... otherwise he persuades me to let him take them out so that he is their "favorite"!)

Except for two Rhode Island Reds, each hen has her own look... it's kind of fun (especially for the girls) to be able to tell them apart so easily. 

 I named this hen Marigold.  She is the friendliest... and the most inquisitive.  Just look at her trying to figure out my camera! 

 Poor Huck... he always wants to play. 

We left the interior in its natural state... not only was it easier, but it also gives a nice fresh woodsy smell.  Although Justus used some 2x4s for framing, most of the interior is made up of pine planks.  I like how Justus built a little roof over the nesting boxes with some of the weathered boards. 

Ever since we moved out to the country we've been looking forward to the day we could have chickens.  It brings back so many memories of my own childhood when I helped take care of our family laying hens.  They haven't even started laying eggs yet and we already consider them a wonderful addition to our family! 

The Cozy Coop

 I am so excited to be sharing pictures of our chicken house today... mostly because it means we are finally in the final stages of completion.  It seems like we have been working on it for months, and really, I guess we have been!  

BEFORE:

 It all started back in January with an ugly shed that was on the property when we bought our house.  Ugly it may have been, but it was the only outbuilding and we were thankful for the storage it provided.  Justus sketched up a plan that included it as the main structure with a chicken house on one side and (eventually) another storage lean-to on the other side.  

Justus located the perfect spot in our yard for the chickens... shade the majority of the day, a nice breeze and good drainage.  That meant we had to move the shed, which took the two of us working together about five solid hours.  

 Once the shed had been moved, we then painted it white.  I'll never forget that day... although I usually do the painting, Justus took pity on me since it was drizzling rain... we snuggled into hats, gloves and jackets and worked away.  In February, construction on the chicken house began.

 In March, the building was still coming along, although Justus was only able to work on it during the weekends and half the time it seemed like it rained.  Still, it was exciting to see progress. 

 Justus used pine planks that were scraps from my parents' ceiling in the house they are building.  The boards were warped and not in a condition they could use them, but just perfect for an exterior chicken house.  The entire house itself is made out of these pine planks, and although we eventually painted the outside, we left the interior in this natural state. 

 The end of March, Justus built the door to the house, which is still my favorite feature.  It is large, heavy and fits the aesthetic of the house perfectly. 

This was the last before picture I have.  About this time, I stopped taking pictures as then it was time for me to start painting and Justus began constructing the run that is attached to the house.  

AFTER:

 I took these pictures early this morning as the sun was rising.  To say that we are excited this project is almost complete is an understatement.  This is the view I have from our kitchen window, and I can't help but look out at it throughout the day. 

 This weekend we got to hang the sign I've been waiting to hang for a couple months now.  My mom surprised me with this sign that she painted back in February and gave our chicken house the perfect name.  I laughed when she gave it to me... it was just so fitting (smile). 

 This is the side view... as you can see, the house is on the right and the run takes up the rest of the space.  We close the chicks in the house at night and open the little door to the run first thing in the morning.  I think the most rewarding part is to see how much they love it.  They come flying out with happy chirps.  When they are a little older, I will let them out to roam around the yard, but for now it's a safe place for them and also a way for them to still be outside when we aren't home. 

 Justus poured concrete around the bottom of the run so that no predators can easily enter.  I'd like to plant about eight boxwood around the side and even build a little bench to set here some day. 

 This weekend Justus used bricks from the original chimney of our home for a little landing in front of the screen door to the run.  We also planted two tiny little boxwood with dreams of them being lush and full one day.  

Justus also built this screen door for the run.  We considered buying one, but cut costs by building it instead. (Justus probably won't be happy with me when he reads this, but I have to say that I am so amazed and proud of all that he builds and does around our place.  He is such a hard worker and I am so thankful for him!) 

 We used 1x1 heavy gauge wire instead of chicken wire.  I felt that it was more durable, but I will give fair warning... it does not stretch easily.  Justus stretched it as much as he could and we just had to call it good. 

 We replaced the door hardware to the shed so it matched the barn hardware on the chicken house and installed a barn light.  The biggest expense was purchasing green metal roofing that matched the roof of our house... we considered galvanized, but we both love the cohesive look it gives our property. 

 The chicks are growing by leaps and bounds and seem healthy and happy.  We enjoy them so much already and I find myself going out to the chicken house several times during the day just to check on them and say hello. 

Sometime this fall Justus will begin construction on the other side of the shed for his storage building.  There's still some landscaping and little things to finish, but we're all so happy to be at this stage... enjoying spring days with our chicks.  I'll share pictures of the interior in a future post!

I hope you are having a great week!

Chicks Are Here!

 Guess what arrived today?

 Ten perfect, precious little chicks.

 Needless to say, it has been a very exciting day for the girls.  Jillian hasn't wanted to leave their sides for one second... these cute little yellow ones are her favorite.  Of course we had to take them outside this evening for a little photo shoot! 

 These will (hopefully) all be laying hens and they are all Heritage Breeds.  I was going to place our order online, but several of the breeds we wanted were back-ordered.  I then called our local Co-Op, who were so friendly and helpful. They placed a special order so that they would all arrive at the same time. 

 I ordered two each of Araucana, Buff Orpington, Rhode Island Red, Barred Plymouth Rock, and Black Australorp.  This sweet little one is an Araucana, who will lay colored eggs. 

 I love that each is a little unique and I know we'll have a blast watching them grow up. Right now we're working on some names... if you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear! 

 In the span of six months we went from zero pets to an exuberant poodle pup, a stray cat that adopted us, an indeterminable number of kittens (indeterminable as said cat had them in a tree) and now ten chicks.  Such fun times!

(And I promise I'll share our chicken house soon... it's almost finished!)